Hi, its me Abelene.
Jen has brought me out of the closet where I was suffocating in debate with my new pals, the Ashford 48″ rigid heddle loom and Ashford 32″ table loom, very existential ideas, like about whether or not as inanimate objects, we really exist, and I have been by far the most optimistic among us! Anyway, Jen seems to have forgotten about me, but finally she brought me out to see the spring . . . I am wearing a very light weave that seems to be sticking to my skin all by itself, perhaps from static electricity, as it has been three days of drying wind here.
Jen wants me to say that she had some difficulty weaving this fluffy light sheer cloth, but eventually she found her way and the weaving became better balanced, eventually only a light tap of the reed to keep the structure even and open. This is the 15epi experiment in her series of weaving ultra fine cotton where she is experimenting with different threads per inch. She is super pleased that very light cloth can be woven on a simple little rigid heddle loom with one 15 dent reed, and is hoping to do more just like it. But first to finish her series she wants to weave 20 epi with this same thread, whether threading two rigid heddle reeds together on my pal the big rigid heddle loom, or to warp it up on my other pal, the table loom. But on the other hand (um, what other hand???) she thinks she might just weave more single reed 15epi samples on the little rigid heddle loom, like this piece was.
So much fun going on here I tell you!
Ta ta, Abelene
ps. Don’t miss out on the technical weaving notes and slideshow below!
♣ Weaving Notes ♣
- Yarn: 20/2 mercerized perle cotton, 8400yds / 1 lb, Maurice Brassard, in colors; Flax (P-5109), Rose Paudreux (P145), Natural (P100), and Blanchi (white) (P-101).
- Loom: Ashford Knitters Loom 20″.
- Warp: Warp length is approx 110 inches from apron rod to warping peg.
- Number of warp ends: 298
- Reed: 15 dent, warp is 19.5″, full width in reed.
- Sett on loom: Oops, I forgot to measure.
- Sett after finishing: Warp 17 epi, and weft 19 ppi.
- Selvedges: I did not do floating selvedges, but I did warp 3 extra ends per selvedge, which is almost necessary I am finding when using a temple.
- Color Pattern:
- Warp = [18 ends of rose, 18 of blanchi, 18 of flax, 18 of blanchi ] x 2 . 288 ends plus 3 extra selvedge ends at each side = 294.
- Weft = wound on to a 30″ stick shuttle ; [20 wraps of rose, 20 wraps flax] repeat the sequence to end of warp.
- Finished: 1/4 inch turned hem, then washed and dried in machine, then pressed, and weighs 83g. Measuring after finishing 76″ long and 17″ wide (before washing/drying it measured 76″ x 18″).
- Yardage: Total yardage used for finished piece = 1536y, figured from weight of finished piece and not including loom waste.
- General Notes: This weave is open and fairly sheer. I am striving for balanced weave with only a light tap of the reed needed. If I beat too hard with the reed, even just a slight bit of pressure on the reed, or too many taps, the weft easily becomes compressed and creates horizontal stripes of weft dominant color. For this reason, I had to be very careful, hoping that after a wash and dry in the machine everything would become even, with threads locked together in a firm gauze fabric. The ppi is slightly more than the epi, so not perfectly balanced. I am guessing then that 20 epi will be the magic warp spacing for ease of weaving balanced.
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